Xing Jiehong, an NPC deputy from Inner Mongolia [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Xing Jiehong – a deputy to the National People's Congress, from North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region – recently called for more support for ethnic medicines.

She urged that special projects for scientific research and the development of ethnic medicines be set up at the national level, with special funds to support the cultivation of a wide range of varieties.

Xing is on the board of the Mongolian Medicine Professional Committee of the World Federation of Traditional Chinese Medicine and is also a general engineer of Inner Mongolia Mongolia Medicine Co.

She said this year she will submit a motion to the National People's Congress. This will be on selecting two to three key varieties – with relatively high market share, a good curative effect and large clinical demand in each ethnic medicine – to carry out systematic and standardized research.

It is hoped that a batch of modern ethnic medicines with clear clinical positioning, good safety, reliable quality, relatively clear medicinal substances and high clinical recognition will be produced. This is expected to expand the ethnic medicine industry and promote the development of ethnic medicines to better serve people's health.

As an NPC deputy in the field of ethnic medicine, Xing has tabled a series of motions on boosting ethnic medicine development over a five-year period.

These motions have not only received considered replies, but much of their content is said to have been reflected in items approved by the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine. 

In 2020, Xing proposed the development of a doctorate program for Mongolian Medicine at the Inner Mongolia University for Nationalities.

Last year, the university was given the green light to be a Mongolian Medicine Doctor-granting unit, with the support of the State and the Ministry of Education.